Senior University Lecturer in Geographic Information Science specialising in Geomatics

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is regularly ranked as one of the world’s top 100 higher education institutions. The University has 41 000 students and 7 500 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

The Faculty of Science conducts research and education within Biology, Astronomy, Physics, Geosciences, Chemistry, Mathematics and Environmental Sciences. The Faculty is organized into ten departments, gathered in the northern campus area. The Faculty has approximately 1900 students, 330 PhD students and 700 employees.
The Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science has about 100 employees, the majority being active within research. Research groups within biogeophysics/biogeochemistry, ecosystem science, remote sensing, GIS and climatology investigate landscape and ecosystem processes based on laboratory studies, field measurements, data analysis and modelling. The department hosts a Bachelor of Science programme in Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis and a Bachelor of Science programme in Meteorology and Biogeophysics. Five Masters programmes are offered (http://www.nateko.lu.se). Undergraduate programmes have a strong participation by international students, and all teaching is given in English.

Description of the position

The Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science seeks a senior lecturer whose principal duties will be to assist in the implementation and further development of education, research, and PhD education in the field of geographic information science with a specialization in geomatics. The amount of time devoted to research depends on access to external research funds and the job content may change over time, as may the relative proportions of research and teaching.

The successful candidate will conduct research and training at the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, with the aims of complementing, strengthening, and further developing ongoing research in geographic information science and geomatics. The department’s research in geomatics is focused upon the development of applications in the built up environment, the environment, and climate. Digitalization is becoming a major trigger of the development of the built up environment. An important research question from a geomatics perspective is how the spatial data infrastructure should be organized to best support this development.

In environmental research the amount of digital spatial data is rapidly increasing from remote sensing data sources like LiDAR and high resolution satellite imagery. The increasing volumes of data offers many opportunities to explore new scientific questions, and this requires the development of appropriate accompanying methods in geomatics, e.g. spatio-temporal modeling. Currently, the department is involved in collaborative projects with epidemiologists and demographers to improve these models.

A central part of geomatics research in the area of climate change in the department is to provide support to the development of ICOS (https://www.icos-ri.eu) and the ICOS Carbon Portal (https://www.icos-cp.eu). Important geomatics research questions for ICOS and its Carbon Portal relate to the development of models for storing, searching, and distributing (spatial) data with (semantic) web technology.

The employee must establish a research program of high international quality in any of the above areas, with links to current research focuses at the department, ICOS, and other relevant departments and centers at Lund University. Research should relate and contribute to the international research programs in relevant areas, by establishing links with national and international level efforts.

The successful candidate must seek and attract external funding from national and international research funding sources in order to fund research in the senior lecturer’s subject area in order to cover their own and research team members’ salary and operating costs.

Duties include implementing and leading the development of courses and course module at the undergraduate and graduate levels involving geographic information science and geomatics. A prominent task will be to teach and coordinate the courses in the master's program Geomatics. Examples of courses taught in this program are GIS algorithms, Web GIS, Geographical databases, Spatial analysis and Programming with applications in geomatics. Many of these courses are in areas currently undergoing rapid development, which means that the candidate is expected to develop the courses. It may also be necessary to develop new courses / course parts in new areas such as 3D modeling and big data. An important task is also to supervise and examine Master theses.

The appointee is expected to be active in outreach and stakeholder engagement, developing contacts and collaboration within other sections of Lund University and with authorities, organisations and private individuals having a stake in the research performed and the societal issues it addresses.

Appointees to a Senior University Lecturer position having attained a sufficiently high level of academic achievement have the possibility to apply for promotion to Professor.

Qualifications

Those qualified for appointment as a senior lecturer, except in disciplines in the fine, applied or performing arts, are according to the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, a person who has demonstrated teaching expertise and been awarded a PhD or has the corresponding research competence or some other professional expertise that is of value in view of the subject matter of the post and the duties that it will involve. Ordinance (2010:1064).

This position requires a Ph.D. degree or equivalent in Geomatics Engineering, Surveying, Physical Geography or Computer Science, or a doctorate in another subject relevant to the position.

A senior lecturer should have relevant and proven scientific and teaching skills in geographic information science and geomatics, developed through research and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Competence in both the development and application of geomatics is a requirement. Having a focus on the built environment, the environment, and/or climate is desirable. A documented knowledge of computer science is required, and experience in semantic web technology is a major advantage. Experience participating in international research projects and programs in the above fields, particular in a various scientific management roles, is an advantage.

A research plan must be included as part of the application. Applicants will be evaluated based on their degree of academic achievement including scientific productivity in terms of quality and quantity of scientific publications, external research funding raised in national or international competition, and leadership experience from national and international research networks and programmes. In the ranking of applicants, emphasis will be placed on an appraisal of how the applicant, by means of her/his experience, expertise and planned research may be expected to enhance and develop research within the field of Geographic Information Science with specialization in Geomatics at the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science.

Qualified candidates should be able to demonstrate:

The ability to independently, and as a primary applicant, obtain research grants in national and international competition.

Experience independently and successfully leading research projects.

Documented experience in the supervision of Ph.D. students (through to the successful completion of their doctorate) is a major advantage as well as having an internationally recognized profile in the research field.

The successful candidate must have the demonstrated ability to develop and update educational material and to coordinate and teach courses in geomatics. Documented experience and the ability to supervise theses are required. Work with program planning and coordination as well as work as study director are an advantage.

The assessment criteria for appointment as a senior lecturer, according to the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, shall be the degree of the expertise required as a qualification for employment. As much attention shall be given to the assessment of teaching expertise as to the assessment of other qualifying criteria laid down in the first paragraph above.

Regulations for the evaluation of qualifications for teaching positions are given in Lund University Appointment Rules.
For example, the candidate must have completed at least five weeks of training in higher education teaching and learning or acquired equivalent knowledge by other means. The overall assessment will also take into consideration any personal capabilities that are of value to carry out the duties of the position well.

It is expected that any non-Swedish speaking appointee within a three-year period will master the Swedish language well enough to be able to teach and to communicate with the university administration in Swedish.

Required content of the application

The Faculty Board has specified instructions for the application and its accompanying documents. These can be found here.

We decline all offers of advertising and recruitment assistance associated with this announcement.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.